The moral psychology of individual-level adherenceto symbolic green narratives: a Kantian theoreticalapproach

Why do agents, who consider themselves ethical or green consumers, endorse green narratives they acknowledge to bedeceptive? In this paper I draw on Kant’s moral psychology to propose a conceptual framework that provides us with elements toexplain individual-level adherence to symbolic green narratives (SGN). From a theoretical perspective, I show how Kant’s moralpsychology provides insights consistent with the state of the art in contemporary social psychology regarding why green consumersfail to enact their best judgment when it comes to endorsing such narratives. My approach is complementary to other theories inarguing that many of our actions in the moral field, and particularly actions and decisions concerning green narratives, are typicallypursued aiming not merely at virtue signaling but also at self-affirmation concerning one’s own virtue.